NORZAGARAY, BULACAN – One of the main causes of malnutrition in children is poverty, but another reason could be a parent’s lack of knowledge of nutrition and proper food preparation. Such is the case with 2-year old Jaymark who was found to be malnourished during an ocular visit by Operation Blessing representatives.
Jay Mark was a malnourished child before.
When we met Jaymark, he was very shy. He was also very thin for his age, which pointed to stunting in his growth. He didn’t have much to eat at home, and what he was given was not very nutritious. His father works hard to provide with his minimum wage income from working in construction in Valenzuela City. His mother, Aileen, 25 years old, does her best to take care of her son with what they have.
Aileen’s son, Jay Mark, was selected to participate in the Bless-A-Child project.
Through the Bless-A-Child project, Aileen saw an improvement in Jaymark’s health. He has developed a good appetite and has gained more kilos since the beginning of the feeding program. He has also become more lively and active during the sessions.
Aileen is now cooking and feeding good food for her kid.
Accompanying her child daily, Aileen has also been able to observe and learn about preparing nutritious food like tinola, ginisang gulay, giniling, etc from the recipes used in the BAC project. The local coordinators encouraged her to practice cooking these meals at home for her and her son.
Due to the ten-month feeding, Jay Mark is now healthier and more active.
Now that the 10-month feeding project has ended, Aileen is excited to put her own personal touch to the recipes she has learned. She can now prepare nutritious meals for her family. She is grateful that Jaymark was chosen to be part of the feeding project, through which she has also learned so much.
She shares to her local coordinators, “Thank you for always being there. I hope you could further extend this project to others.”
